Does anybody know anything about these kind of stones?

[Willem-Jan]

Let me know what you think of the ocean blue. Keep seeing those and been curious about them. Was thinking maybe as a pre-finisher for kitchen knives.

I was in your boat for a while, but this video made me pull the trigger. I bought the hard one (H)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2jnVEAdVsU

I will tell you what I think, but you will have to wait a little, the stone hasn't arrived yet. Also keep in mind that I am a beginner. I intend to use it after my coticule in the hope of taking the edge one step up from there. If it produces an edge that is at least a little better I will be happy.

Glass as in it has no natural grit that is conducive to honing. It's just a really hard medium you can make work like a file by scarring it up. Sharpening razors on files (especially friable ones) isn't a great method in my opinion.

There was a member here who was experimenting with foundstones for quite awhile (there was a MASSIVE thread on them a couple years back), and while I think he eventually got a couple decent ones, he sent me one or two of his first ones... and they worked like this stuff does. I'd Lap it coarse, it'd cut like the dickens... then it'd wear in a bit, get pretty fine, but start damaging the edge... then by the end it pretty much wouldn't cut, only damage the edge. That's what stones that aren't good hones do, it's what granite or glass plates would do if you honed directly on them without added abrasives, and that's actually what they market as a benefit for these things.

Well if mine will behave like that, I can always use it as a backing for lapping film.

 

[Willem-Jan]

I did manage a pretty good coti edge today that delivers this fabled coti shave where it feels like you can do no wrong with the blade and your skin feels better after the shave than before. Just a tiny little bit below the sharpness I would like, which is exactly what I was hoping this green thing would do, making a coti edge sharper. Except, now I am afraid this stone will ruin the edge. I will first try it with the ocean blue when it arrives. After that I can try this green thing and then I should know everything to asses its worth.

 

[Willem-Jan]

Let me know what you think of the ocean blue. Keep seeing those and been curious about them. Was thinking maybe as a pre-finisher for kitchen knives.

this video made me pull the trigger

This stone (ocean blue) arrived today. It's 4 by 10 cm. (If nothing else that green stone has brought my attention to small hones and how effective they can be). It is very, very smooth to the touch. I used it just now to refine the best edge I had at this moment, being a gold dollar 1996 finished on a coticule and stropped. I didn't do anything to the stone unlike the guy from the video, just some water on it and started doing x strokes. After some stropping, I shaved. My impression is that it actually improved my coticule edge and gave a tad more sharpness while remaining very smooth, great, very close shave. As such I would say you could really call this a finisher. (I do have the hard one as opposed to RayClem). For the price I think this performance is quite impressive. Much to my surprise, it seems to do exactly what I bought it for. Film (which I will stick to my green stone) is on the way to see how much sharper I can get this fat 1996, but I'm guessing i'm close to the limit whit this nice little stone. The Arkansas translucent is on it's way to have a go at this same edge. I don't even wanna think about trying the green stuff on this egde, but I will at some point to see exactly how far down it will take the edge.

For your knive purposes: I don't really know about knive sharpening or how far you should/want to take it, but I think this would be too much as a pre finisher. (what do you finish on anyway?) Have you ever tried belgian blue? I think they even use that to finish on in a knive shop in my town. I have one the same size and it would certainly take the edge from this ocean blue a step back. The Belgian Blue at least for my razor, seems more like pre finisher (at half the price of this ocean blue). I would say it is lower grit than the ocean blue.

 

[Suhrim21]

With what you are saying that might be all I need to finish the edge on my kitchen knives. Thanks for the review. I may look into adding that into the mix.

 

[Pokeystotle]

Let me know what you think of the ocean blue. Keep seeing those and been curious about them. Was thinking maybe as a pre-finisher for kitchen knives.

What's strange is there are "ocean blues" and then there are real "ocean blues." I picked up two giant Tsushima, each well over 2000 grams. I intended to dedicate one of them to my kitchen knives. I also bought, when I first started buying natural stones, the "Amazon" Tsushima. This stone is NOTHING like the two Tsushima I purchased in Japanese auctions. Honestly they seem to have little on common. I'm not sure why or if there is some kind of identification mistake or it was done intentionally. I could sit here and write out the differences in feedback, grit and all that but I won't unless someone wants to know more. Just know this, the real Tsushima stones and what I call the "Amazon Tsushima" (just because that is the only place I've seen it for sale) don't perform the same at all.

 

[Willem-Jan]

I do want to know more actually, I am interested.

 

[eKretz]

It has already been covered in other threads...

Ocean Blue stone?

10k natural

Tsushima Ocean Blue hone

 

[Willem-Jan]

It has already been covered in other threads...

Ocean Blue stone?

10k natural

Tsushima Ocean Blue hone

Thanks, i' ll check those!

 

[Pokeystotle]

I do want to know more actually, I am interested.

They are decent stones but some are mined under the sea and others in a mountain. I'm no geologist but I can't imagine a stone that is underwater for hundreds, thousands of years is going to react the same as one that is mined out of the side of a mountain. Again, that is being logical, not necessarily based on anything I actually know. I love my real Tsushima but its not something I would put any of my razors on. I'm not saying it couldn't be used for middle grade work, but it doesn't hold up to any suita or true awasedo stones that I have in my collection. Anyone touting Tsushima as a great finisher has never ever tried a super hard Ozuku or whatever the stones are that are being called Ozuku.

 

[RayClem]

They are decent stones but some are mined under the sea and others in a mountain. I'm no geologist but I can't imagine a stone that is underwater for hundreds, thousands of years is going to react the same as one that is mined out of the side of a mountain. Again, that is being logical, not necessarily based on anything I actually know. I love my real Tsushima but its not something I would put any of my razors on. I'm not saying it couldn't be used for middle grade work, but it doesn't hold up to any suita or true awasedo stones that I have in my collection. Anyone touting Tsushima as a great finisher has never ever tried a super hard Ozuku or whatever the stones are that are being called Ozuku.

The first two natural hones I purchased were a Chinese Guangxi and a Tushima Ocean Blue. I purchased them because the edges I got off a Naniwa 12K were too harsh for my skin. I preferred the Tsushima edge to the CNAT and the Naniwa. The edges from the Tsushima were similar in sharpness, but smoother.

The Tsushima is advertised as a 12K stone. My experience with the stone indicates that it is somewhere between 10K and 12K in honing potential as compared to 10K and 12K Naniwas.

I find the entire system of Japanese Natural stones to be quite confusing, so I have not tried one. I do have other synthetic and natural hones that give better edges than the Tsushima without the cost of a vintage Escher or JNAT.

 

[Pokeystotle]

The first two natural hones I purchased were a Chinese Guangxi and a Tushima Ocean Blue. I purchased them because the edges I got off a Naniwa 12K were too harsh for my skin. I preferred the Tsushima edge to the CNAT and the Naniwa. The edges from the Tsushima were similar in sharpness, but smoother.

The Tsushima is advertised as a 12K stone. My experience with the stone indicates that it is somewhere between 10K and 12K in honing potential as compared to 10K and 12K Naniwas.

I find the entire system of Japanese Natural stones to be quite confusing, so I have not tried one. I do have other synthetic and natural hones that give better edges than the Tsushima without the cost of a vintage Escher or JNAT.

It is confusing if you are trying to apply what you know about what you currently have - the hardest thing for a lot of people, myself included, is removing the notion of "K" out of your mind. Jnats have labels that categorize the stones not on quantity but on quality. Instead of saying "X stone is Y0000K," the stones are put into categories that let you know what the stone is classified as and can do. Further, some stones quality is based on the company that has evaluated the stone. Some defunct company's stones command high prices as they are no longer in business but were amazing stones, (Hatanaka Nakayama). Breaking down the terms into basic definitions is a good first step. For instance, what does each word mean? Jnats are more complicated than that. One huge mistake people make is trying to get into Jnats comparably cheaply, as compared to what they are used to in price, like buying a Naniwa, King, Sharp Pebble or some such, say 8K stone, for under $100. I mean, Jnats are practically a different hobby than synthetics. Even different from other natural stones. For decent Jnats prepare to spend a few hundred on a beginner stone. Sure there are cheaper stones but you take a lot of risks buying very cheap. I don't have the time to list all those risks now, and what's worse is that buying expensive stones is no guarantee that you aren't getting ripped off. But there are ways to get a great stone for a reasonable price if you know what to do and who to avoid. I'm sorry if that isn't a lot of help.

 

[Willem-Jan]

Everybody keeps calling this ocean blue from amazon Tsushima, adding to the confusion it seems. It is nowhere but here referred to as tsushima. I can only speak for this one: it does finish a razor by my standards, just had a great shave from a Puma finished on it. I used the beryl hone to raise a light slurry on it. I think the take home message is that for those in need of an affordable finisher, this amazon blue
is worth considering. I will keep looking at other methods and film, but I am already quite happy with this.

 

[LJS]

Everybody keeps calling this ocean blue from amazon Tsushima, adding to the confusion it seems. It is nowhere but here referred to as tsushima.

Have you read the description on Amazon? I don't think anyone here just started calling it that.

• Extra wide natural "Ocean Blue" Tsushima sharpening honing waterstone whetstone with a matching nagura stone
• Quarried from a now closed underwater mine near South Tsushima Island, Japan; golden stamp of authenticity; very limited stock

 

[Willem-Jan]

Have you read the description on Amazon? I don't think anyone here just started calling it that.

• Extra wide natural "Ocean Blue" Tsushima sharpening honing waterstone whetstone with a matching nagura stone
• Quarried from a now closed underwater mine near South Tsushima Island, Japan; golden stamp of authenticity; very limited stock

You're right! Should have read that closer. It is not in the "name" of the item but in the description. I can see now what a terrible mess this nomenclature created.

 

[eKretz]

If you had taken the time to read the links above, you'd see that this Amazon "Tsushima" isn't the same as the normal legit JNat Tsushima stones (mountain = tan-ish stone, ocean = black stone). It is something different and is more of a bluish color, considerably harder than the usual black tsushima stone. It can produce a decent shaving edge, but for me it doesn't produce a superb edge. Plenty capable of shaving though.

 

[Willem-Jan]

Indeed, I have also seen much confusion about these stones on other forums now. Anyway my original post was about these beryl hones that I hoped would live up to their stated grit, which they don't and then it seemed interesting to compare to two other little stones. One being the ocean blue from amazon which like you say is very shaveable.
The other a very little Arkansas translucent (what a gem), which at first feel seems similar to the beryl hone (but so, so even), but seems to produce great edges with ease. I need further testing to see which one is the best finisher.
I do want to give a shout out to this amazon blue since a lot of the discussion about the tsushima name makes it seem like some kind of fake. While the name might be wrong and the marketing questionable, this is a legitimate stone for someone in need of an affordable finisher (talking about the small hard one to be clear (h). I want to stress that part rather than the discussion about the name.

The beryl hone seems useless to sharpen my razors (for the money I got a small Belgian blue that runs circles around it), but I did get some use out of it:
-it made me realize that tiny hand held hones are all it takes for me.
-I dull edges of DE blades with it before throwing them away ( I know I could do that without the beryl hone)
-I use it to raise a slurry on the amazon blue, which is very hard and takes a lot of convincing to get a slurry going.